French President Jacques Chirac has said sending 15,000 peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon is "excessive". He was speaking ahead of Brussels talks on the Lebanon peace force, which France will lead, between EU ministers and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. At that meeting French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said EU nations have offered to send a minimum of 6,500 to 7,000 ground troops to Lebanon. The force was authorised as part of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Speaking in Brussels, Mr Annan said that the plan would only work if the enlarged UN force, called Unifil 2, was "strong, credible and robust". Mr Annan added that the first troops would deploy within days, not weeks.... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Nigerian soldiers have burnt hundreds of slum houses near where a soldier was killed during the kidnapping of foreign oil workers, residents say. Residents in the city of Port Harcourt say the troops became angry when they learned one of their colleagues had been killed in a shootout. Hundreds fled with their belongings as the fire spread through the slum area. The army has denied responsibility. The military was sent to the oil-rich Niger Delta to arrest militants. At least three foreigners were abducted by gunmen from a bar close to the offices of a subsidiary of the Italian oil company, Eni, on Thursday night, near where the slums were burnt. During the kidnapping, a soldier protecting the workers was shot and killed. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5285556.stm

Israeli cluster bombs dropped during a month-long blitz against Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon are taking an increasing toll on civilians trying to return home more than a week after the fighting ended, the UN and rights groups say."Every day we hear about casualties -- it's a large number," said Dalya Farran, media officer for the UN Mine Action coordination Center in southern Lebanon. "We're in an emergency situation," she said as reported by AFP. Several children have been among the eight killed and 38 wounded by cluster bomb explosions since the ceasefire began on August 14, according to Lebanese military figures last updated Tuesday. On Wednesday three Lebanese bomb disposal experts were also killed by a cluster bomb in the village of Tebnin, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the Israeli border. Hundreds of Israeli artillery shells containing nearly 200 explosive rounds each were fired into southern Lebanon during the fighting, landing in villages and ...http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=18772

The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two officials said.The investigation by the department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls began this week, after reports that three types of American cluster munitions, anti-personnel weapons that spray bomblets over a wide area, have been found in many areas of southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian casualties.Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said, “We have heard the allegations that these munitions were used, and we are seeking more information.” He declined to comment further....http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt8_25_06_2.htm

America's two top generals in the Middle East said Thursday a security operation in Baghdad was helping curb violence after a surge of bombings and shootings there in recent months.But the bloodshed persisted with three car bombs in Baghdad and a series of bombings and shootings across the country killing at least 16 Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers on Thursday. Another U.S. soldier was killed the previous day, the military said.U.S. authorities claim a joint American and Iraqi operation that began in early August has improved security. The U.S. military has said the operation, for which 12,000 troops were redeployed to Baghdad, aims to curb mostly sectarian warfare."I believe there is a danger of civil war in Iraq, but only a danger," Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said after meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. "I think Iraq's far from it. I think that there's been great progress in the security front here recently in Baghdad."...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-08-24-iraq-baghdad_x.htm?csp=34

A German-born Turkish citizen held for more than four years at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay has returned to Germany after being released, his attorneys said Thursday.Murat Kurnaz, 24, was flown to Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany, where he was set free, attorney Bernhard Docke said in a statement."He is now again in the circle of his family," Docke said in the statement. "Their joy at embracing their lost son again is indescribable." The U.S. Department of Defense said Kurnaz was turned over to German authorities Thursday afternoon after lengthy negotiations with the Germans. His transfer came as a result of an administrative review board last year and he was to be released, rather than detained in Germany....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14506160/